USS Stargazer
| Registry= NCC-2893 | Affiliation= Federation/Starfleet | Status= Lost | Datestatus= 2355 | Status= Recovered | Datestatus= 2364 }} The USS Stargazer (NCC-2893) was a Federation starship that was in operation during the mid-24th century. In 2333, Lieutenant Commander Jean-Luc Picard served as a bridge officer on this vessel. He later described the Stargazer as an "overworked, underpowered vessel that was always on the verge of flying apart at the seams." ( ) When the ship's captain was mortally wounded on the bridge, Picard took command of the situation, and the vessel. ( ) Starfleet Command looked so favorably on Picard's actions they appointed him as the vessel's new commanding officer, a post he held for 22 years. Picard's crew included Jack Crusher and a weapons officer named Vigo. ( ) In 2354, Crusher was killed while serving on this vessel, forcing Picard to present Crusher's corpse to his widow, Beverly. ( ) The same year, the Stargazer visited the planet Chalna. ( ) The Stargazer saw action in the Cardassian Wars. She was involved in a truce offering by the Federation in sector 21503. After making contact with a Cardassian warship, Captain Picard lowered the ship's shields as a gesture of good will, but the Cardassian commander ignored the gesture and disabled the Stargazer's weapons and impulse engines. The Stargazer managed to regroup and flee. ( ) Attacked and severely damaged by an unknown vessel near the Maxia Zeta system in 2355, the ship had to be abandoned when it was overcome by fire and severe damage, but not before Picard was able to destroy the unknown vessel using what would later be named the Picard Maneuver. This event was called the "Battle of Maxia" by the Ferengi. Because the loss of a starship is a court martial offense, Picard was court-martialed for the loss of the Stargazer, zealously prosecuted by Phillipa Louvois. In the end, he was absolved of all charges. ( ) Assumed destroyed in the battle, the Stargazer was found adrift in space by the Ferengi and was eventually salvaged in 2364 by the ''Enterprise''-D, Picard's subsequent command, aboard which he decorated his ready room by including a model of the Stargazer. ( ) Ship's personnel * See: [[USS Stargazer personnel|USS Stargazer personnel]] Appendices Appearances * Background The Stargazer was intended to be a vessel, the same as Captain Kirk's . This was mentioned in the script by Geordi La Forge. When the Stargazer was eventually designed, it was decided that a new model (derisively referred to as the "pie dish") should be used. Since LeVar Burton had already recorded his line, the name of the new ship's class had to be similar to "Constitution" to make it easy to overdub; the production crew settled on "Constellation". In 1994 Galoob produced a toy model of the Stargazer as part of their Micromachines line. Interestingly enough, the coloring on the model was completely wrong and was actually based on the coloring of the NCC-7100 model seen in Picard's office. Apocrypha The crew of the Stargazer has been featured in many novels by Michael Jan Friedman. First appearing in Pocket TNG: Reunion, a novel published by Pocket Books, it has spun off the Star Trek: Stargazer series. The Stargazer is also included as a playable ship in the video game Star Trek: Legacy. During the story, it is revealed that the ship's captain, Ruhalter, is killed on the gridge and the ship severely damaged from a shock wave resulting from T'Uerell destroying a planet in the Neutral Zone. Picard takes command of the ship and attempts to stop stellar debris from destroying other planets in a Federation system. The player can control the Stargazer with Picard in command during this mission in the game. Stargazer de:USS Stargazer es:USS Stargazer